As
Shafi Muhammad Faqir sings Kabir’s Saancha
Saheb Ik Tu… in that languid, forlorn voice
so reminiscent of the sands of the Thar and Cholistan,
one is transported to a land of traditional desert
melody. The poetry of Kabir – one of the
brilliant jewels of nirguna bhakti – weaves
its way into Shafi Faqir’s music to touch
heart and soul. As the vernacular – simple,
natural and shorn of dogma – fits Kabir’s
philosophy like a glove, Shafi Faqir’s voice
lends itself beautifully to the saint-poet’s
vision of a formless, all-encompassing God.

Like most Manganhaar
children, Shafi Faqir started learning from his
father who played the kamaicha, the time-honoured
string and bow instrument of the singer tribe
but now, a rarity in Sindh. In the early eighties,
he met a dervish minstrel, Hussain Ali Shah, at
a shrine. The meeting opened him up to the mystical
songs of Kabir, Mira Bai, Tulasidas, Baba Bulleh
Shah, Sachal Sarmast, Abdul Latif Bhittai, Misri
Faqir and many others. He has also trained with
Ustad Majeed Khan, a sarangi player and staff
artist with Radio Pakistan, Hyderabad. Ustad Salamat
Ali Khan of Sham Chaurasi gharana, and the renowned
Singhaar Ali Salim are his other great inspirations.
The musician hails from the deserts of Tharparkar,
Sindh, and also plays the dholak and kartal. Singing
in Marwari, Sindhi, Punjabi, Urdu and Poorbi,
he travels through the year to perform all over
Sindh and Punjab. He also runs a music academy
in his native town for the Manganhaar children
of his community.